Monday, July 07, 2008

Steamed Caramel Cake

I made this caramel cake on the long weekend. It was so hot and humid and I just don't want to crank up the oven so decided to make steam cake instead. This cakes turn out to be really soft, not too sweet and a nice sweet smell of caramel. The only problem I had with the cakes is it 'senget' (slant) to one side while steaming. I am pretty sure is not the fire because I made sure the steamer is right at the centre of the fire. Can someone enlighten me what I did wrong?

1. Place the 150g of sugar in a small heavy-based saucepan and heat gently until sugar melts and caramelizes to golden brown colour. Take care to keep pan on very low heat to avoid burning the caramel and remove pan from heat once it reaches a golden brown colour.2. Pour the hot water into the caramel. Boil caramel for a few minutes until completely melted and a syrup is obtained. Allow syrup to cool and pour it out into a measuring cup (you need 160 to 170 ml)3. Add the melted butter, milk and beaten egg to the cooled caramel syrup and stir well to combined.4. Sift the flour and bicarbonate and salt into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the liquid. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the liquid, stirring gently with a wooden spoon or balloon whisk for a smooth batter.5. Fill small lightly buttered cups three-quarters full of batter and steam for 15 to 20 minutes.

Note : This recipe yield 7 very small cakes. If you want to make more just double up the recipe.

I love this cake, in fact it was the first sweet I made for my husband, and we weren't together at that time though he had secret intentions, haha. Anyway the senget-ness is probably due to uneven heat, either its overcrowded so too little steam circulates in the middle or the cakes too crowded at the sides. I'm not sure of the type of steamer you use, is it the metal type straight on the fire or the bamboo type in a wok or something else?

I tried this recipe & the batter was enough for 2 shallow cake tin of 13cm diameter. The cakes turned out to be very soft, moist & delicious! The incredible thing is that I burnt the caramel slightly, the batter was bitter as well BUT the cake itself was not bitter at all!! I just starting to learn to make cakes & this is my first ever 'successful' cake. I will make this cake again & again for sure, but next round I will reduce the fat to 60g. 70g is a bit too oily. Anyone know if this batter is suitable for oven baking too?

For my steamed cupcakes to rise evenly I put a cap over each one and make a little hole in the middle of the cap, large enough for the steam to go out but small enough to prevent the water that falls back from the lid of the pan to come into and ruin the dough. I have no idea if it will work with your recipe.

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About Me

I was born and raised in Malaysia and now live in Northern California, USA with my wonderful husband Carlos. I love to bake and cook. It is very relaxing and I find my creativity flowing in the kitchen. I creates this blog to record all my cooking and baking adventures and also share my tested recipes with you.
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